Resident Evil: Reanimation
by VerelLupin
Summary: Everything I care about, everything I love has been used against me, she said. Everything I lost, everything I want is within my grasp, he said. Umbrella will not win, not now not this time. Not ever, they said. Carlice
1. Goodbyes

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews on Eyes Into Her Soul. I'm Glad to know so many people felt the same as I did. My bf is a little worried about my devotion to Carlos and frankly he'd be a bit jealous if he was real or if Oded Fehr lived anywhere near us.**

**Anyhoo This is the story I've been wanting to do. It starts with the ending of RE:E and will go through RE:A and RE:R ending AU and towards what I hope the sixth one might be like. It is completely independent of EIHS but will have some of the general ideas of it.**

**Enjoy...**

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My name is Carlos Olivera. I used to work for the military part of the Umbrella Corporation known as the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Force, the UBCF. I was deployed to Raccoon City, where there was a T-virus outbreak.

The city was overrun and my team and I were left for dead. One of ours, Yuri Loginova was bitten and he turned biting me. Nicholai Ginovaef and I were the only surviving members of our team and we were contacted by Dr. Charles Ashford to get his daughter, Angela Ashford out of the city.

In her school we met former S.T.A.R.S. member, Jill Valentine and L.J. Wayne, a civilian. Nicholai died protecting Jill and Angela from an infected K-9 unit and I saved L.J. from another undead. I then met Alice Abernathy, former head of security of Umbrella's secret lab codenamed HIVE and the reason for the outbreak in Raccoon City.

She pointed her gun at me and asked how long it been since I'd been bitten. I answered three hours and she told me it was my lucky day and that was the moment I fell for her.

Somehow we made it out of the city on the chopper Dr. Ashford had promised. The wave from the nuclear sanitation of Raccoon City crashed our helicopter into the Arklay Mountains. Only L.J., Jill, Angela and I survived. Alice was killed protecting Angela during the crash.

We recovered her from the Detroit facility after she was reanimated with the T-virus. Several months later, under Umbrella's control she killed Angela and fled. Jill Valentine turned herself in to the FBI giving L.J. and I time to get away.

We joined Claire Redfield's convoy and pillaged every small town for supplies and fuel. While resting at a rundown motel we ran into diseased crows. Several members of the group were killed and one of the girls ran right into the path of an unmanned flamethrower. I ran to shield her from its flames and five years after the Raccoon City incident Alice showed up and saved my life again.

She told me she ran to protect us, me. Afterward she told us about a place free of infection in Alaska called Arcadia. We had to stop in Las Vegas to get fuel but it was a trap, Umbrella had been tracking Alice and they used her to test their new projects and their enhanced zombies overran us.

During the battle L.J. who had been bitten a few days earlier, turned and tried to attack Kmart, one of the girls in the convoy. I pulled him away from her and killed him but not before he bit me. Alice was taken over by Umbrella's satellites but she destroyed the signal and followed it to a chopper hidden in a building.

She killed every one but Dr. Isaacs, who got away. He was the one who brought her back after the plane crash. We tracked the chopper to another Umbrella facility. It's hidden in the desert and they are looking for a way in.

I can feel the virus eating through my system. I know Alice knows that I'm not gonna make it but she's hiding it pretty well. I guess that's why I love her. I just wish I had gotten a chance to tell her.

**Nevada Desert Ridge Above Umbrella Facility**

"Good thing we like a challenge." She said observing the high fence surrounded by undead. The umbrella logo gleamed on the black helicopter as if daring them to come get it.

She was about to say that they should get moving before they were spotted but Carlos' violent coughing interrupted and she turned to see if he was all right.

He seemed to choke on the black liquid pouring out of his mouth for a moment but he managed to spit it up and onto the desert. "Hold on." He wiped his mouth and felt her grab onto his arm. He knew what was happening but he didn't have the heart to tell her.

Surviving a bite once was a miracle, twice would take an act of God. "Hold on," she repeated obviously noting that he wasn't going to offer one of his usual _'I'll be fine'_ smiles. "They have the anti-virus in there. Just hold on."

He looked up from the ground and leaned into her offering false comfort, he knew his body, the virus was moving much quicker than the last time and he'd be turning in a matter of hours not days like L.J. "Its too late and you know it."

She placed her head on his shoulder confirming what he already suspected. "Besides, you need a way to get in there and I have an idea." He looked at her and smiled. Her stricken expression told him that she understood that this was his goodbye.

There would be no saving him this time and she had to accept it.

They left the ridge and Alice excused herself to get the last of the provisions from the hotel. Claire didn't say that there was nothing there to begin with; she knew why the other woman was going in there and if anybody deserved to mourn it was Alice. Claire knew she'd lost many but Carlos was the one that was going to break her.

_Five Months earlier _

"_So who is she or was she?" Claire asked climbing onto the roof of the truck where Carlos was keeping an eye on the perimeter._

"_She?"_

"_Yeah you know the girl that puts that very serious frown on your face every night when you think no one is looking."_

_Carlos adjusted his gun and glanced at the redhead beside him. "You're not going to let this go until I tell you, are you?"_

_Claire adjusted her own gun and got more comfortable. "Nope. I've got all I could out of L.J. but the rest he said I had to ask you. So I'm asking."_

"_Is there a reason you want to know?"_

"_I take the health and safety of this convoy seriously. I know that sometimes having food and shelter is not enough. Sometimes people just need to release their pasts in order to move on. Look at Victor, the man never talked after we picked him up. It wasn't until after he shot himself that we even knew that he had a wife named Emily."_

"_I'm not going to kill myself, Claire." He said annoyed at L.J. for opening his mouth and with Claire for wanting to know something that he didn't want to share with anybody, ever._

"_Look I don't want details. I just want." She huffed in frustration. She wasn't good with words she never had been. Hell one of the things Chris constantly mocked her for was the inability to express herself. "You can talk to me if you want. I'm here."_

"_I met her in Raccoon City when we were left for dead by Umbrella. She was a survivor like me and tough as nails and so beautiful," he trailed off and Claire waited, sure that he was sorting through his memories to decide what to tell her. "She was with me and L.J. for a while but after a few months she just split. No reason, no note or anything. Just vanished." _

_He clenched his hand and she gripped it. He relaxed and continued. "I spent months looking for her but she just didn't want to be found. After that L.J. and I traveled up and down the coast looking for survivors and that was when we met you."_

"_You haven't seen her since?"_

"_No." but he did see her. He saw her everyday in his dreams, haunting him with those blue eyes that were so strong and vulnerable at the same time. Sometimes he talked in his sleep and Claire was a light sleeper.  
_

"_I'm sorry. We've all lost so many that it becomes second nature to not get attached. It's hard to understand when someone does and watching what it does to that person is even worse. I guess in reality I just wanted to make you feel better."_

"_I know and I appreciate it." He said patting her knee letting her know the conversation was over. _

_Claire got up dusted her pants and climbed down. "You know… she's probably lost a lot of loved ones, maybe that's why she left. She couldn't bear to lose you too. That's why I would leave."_

"_Thank you."_

"_Anytime, Olivera."_

_He saluted her with his gun and she left him to his thoughts of his woman and her reasons for leaving._

Twenty minutes later Alice came back out wrapping her scarf a little bit more snugly around her face. Kmart and Claire didn't say anything to her and just watched as the other woman walked to the Tanker and waited.

Kmart turned and hugged him and she didn't hesitate to cry as she clung to the man that had become the closest thing to a father in this desolate world. Claire was having a tougher time as she refused to give in to her tears but the effort cost her the ability to speak.

"You keep them safe, huh?" Carlos said gripping her hand like that night so many months ago.

"You got it." She managed to say and he hit her knuckles with his and walked away. He didn't look back but he heard her tell Kmart to "come here."

He saw Alice standing by the tanker but he wasn't ready to say goodbye just yet. He instead looked up at the top of the vehicle that would take his life and sighed. This was not the way he had wanted things to end. Hell when she'd kept the flames from roasting him alive, he'd thought that fate was finally going to give them a break.

He'd figured that surviving Raccoon City and then her death and her subsequent return to life had been enough punishment to grant him peace. Then they lost Angie and Jill was captured and a few months later Alice had vanished and then she'd miraculously returned and confessed how much she cared about him.

She explained why she left and he felt that finally they could have some happiness but fate is cruel to those it likes to play with. It showed when it allowed L.J. to go unnoticed long enough for him to turn and infect another.

Now they would never have a chance of exploring what was between them. He'd never get the chance to show her how much he loved her, how much he missed her all those years.

Knowing that they had no more time to waste on something that was not going to change, Carlos allowed himself one last encounter with his dear Alice. He was shocked to see that the woman that Umbrella so feared and wanted was completely falling apart before his eyes.

"Carlos, I-"

**'I love you. Don't leave me. Don't do this. We can find another way.'**

"Save it."

**'I love you too. I don't want to. I have no choice. There is no other way.'**

She nodded and he held her hand and for a wild moment he was tempted to pull her close and give her a reminder of him but it would be cruel in light of all those she already mourned so he stayed put. "Just promise me one thing. When you get down there…"

**'Kill them all. Save the world. Live for me.'**

"Consider it done."

**'I will. There is no world to save without you. I'll try.'**

He pretended not see the tears running her face. He had to be strong otherwise he'd back out and beg her to save him. Alice didn't seem to care or was not aware of how tenuous his resolve was for she pulled him to her and he could do nothing else but hold onto her as well.

He felt her desperation in the grip of her hands on his body. He buried his face in her neck and was grateful that he'd been able to have this moment, that even though nothing was going to change the fact that he was going to die, at least he got to go with the scent and feel of Alice on him.

He pulled back before she changed his mind and Alice surprised him further by pressing her lips against his in the sweetest farewell he could ever have imagined.

He longed to deepen the kiss, to explore the sensation and texture of her mouth with his but time and fate as usual were not on their side and he reluctantly pulled away. He pressed his forehead to hers and they remained that way for a few precious minutes.

Eventually she slowly let her arms fall from around him and he stepped out of their protective circle. Alice backed away just enough for him to pull the door open and climb into the truck. She stood and watched as he closed the door, effectively putting an end to their bittersweet story.


	2. Hellos

**I have so many ideas for this story. I'm excited to post this chapter. Hopefully you guys like it. **

**Enjoy...**

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"We have to go." Claire said, leading the numb Alice back to the hummer that only a few hours ago had been a haven for their little group. Kmart was already seated in the back with the remains of their convoy.

"I can drive," the redhead offered. Alice ignored her and got behind the wheel.

Carlos took off without a backwards glance to see if they were following and she drove the few miles looking straight ahead. She wasn't strong enough to look at him and not do something about his fate.

The drive was silent and the whole vehicle wondered how many of them would actually reach Alaska. Kmart was trying not to sniffle and Claire was still looking over the coordinates for Arcadia.

Alice drew a breath as they neared the hundreds of undead but she couldn't bear not seeing him one last time and she pulled up side by side with him.

She chanced a glance and just like in the hummer with Kmart between them, he felt her gaze and returned it. They locked eyes and then he smiled wide and sped away.

Instead of slowing down and letting him create a hole for them to pass through, Alice had an epiphany. She had screamed and fought scientists for Matt even when there had been tentacles coming out of his arm. She'd fought for Kaplan and her friend Rain even when both had been repeatedly bitten and were bleeding to death.

All three of them had been her friends; sure Matt and Kap had been potential for romance and Rain was so tough and badass that it had seemed a waste to let her die. But Carlos, who had survived with her under extraordinary odds was different, he was more than a friend. He was the last link to the living world and the goodness that had been in it, a goodness she didn't think she deserved but somehow had fallen for her regardless.

She couldn't believe she'd been so ready to give up on him, that she'd actually thrown in the towel with the one she could actually save. The one she loved with all of her that was still human, the one who fought with her and was her true equal.

He was the only one that could love her back with the same fierceness and he was not going to die, not today. **'I'm not letting a stupid infection take him not when there is a cure only yards away. No way is Carlos dying while that bastard Isaacs is still alive, not in my world.'**

She waited as he got closer to the gates of the fake farmhouse and watched as he swerved left and right violently taking out any undead that were willing to work for their meal. He continued on like this almost reaching the gate itself but he turned too sharp to the left and the tanker flipped and went skidding onto its side.

"Take the wheel!" She shouted.

"What?"

"Take the wheel! But stay back until you see the signal!"

"Alice…" whatever Claire was going to say was lost as Alice climbed onto the top of the hummer and took a running leap. She barreled rolled onto the desert floor and immediately put her all into reaching the overturned tanker.

The undead were already trying to climb onto the truck in hope of getting to whoever had been driving but their hunger was no match for Alice's desperation to save the man she loved. She jumped onto the tanker and began kicking and twisting necks out of her way while screaming, "don't light the fuse, don't light it!"

She cleared the driver side window and pulled the screen off. Carlos was against the other door a rolled joint in his hand.

He rubbed his eyes glanced at his last smoke and groaned. "You're not a hallucination."

She shook her head and disappeared to take out the more determined undead then reappeared and reached in and twisted the end off the barely burning dynamite stick. "I told you not to lit it. Come on grab my hand."

"No."

"I don't have time to argue, come on."

Reluctantly he gripped her hand and they took a leap onto the only empty spot on the side of the tanker. She handed him her two Uzi submachine guns and pulled out her trusty kukri knives and hacked through the undead making their way to their side.

She relit the stick she'd taken and tossed it through the window of the overturned vehicle. "Can you run?" she asked.

"Doesn't look like I have a choice." He muttered clearly still unhappy with the fact that she put herself in danger to get him out.

Claire was still at a safe enough distance from the tanker when it exploded as planned. Alice and Carlos had been far enough to miss any shrapnel but close enough to be lifted off their feet and straight into an open pit. Luckily the pit had been filled and their landing was relatively soft.

Carlos opened his eyes and was met with the dead wide-eyed gaze of Alice. He scrambled off her only to land on another. He got out of the pit and took a good look at what they landed on and he doubled over as his body forced out the last meager contents of his stomach.

He saw the real Alice sitting among her clones in inconsolable disbelief. Carlos, not wanting to climb back amongst what would replace his worst nightmares from now on but at the same time not wanting to leave Alice among her other selves, slid back into the pit making sure not to step on any of the fallen Alice's.

He approached the stunned woman and as gently as he could, swept the real suffering Alice into his arms. She buried her face in his scarf and even after they were out he could still feel her trembling. "Did you know they…"

Alice whispered. "No," and he hugged her to him.

Eventually he put her down and together went to see if the plan had worked. Claire and Kmart had already loaded their passengers and both of them were happily waving to Carlos. He waved back and Alice tossed up the red diary.

"You're not coming?" Kmart asked.

Alice held Carlos' hand in response.

"Take care of each other." Claire said and took off. They didn't bother to see the helicopter disappear into the distance instead they headed to the building that served as cover for Umbrella. She kicked the door open and they stood in the doorway looking at what looked like an ordinary kitchen table.

"Where are they?"

"Underground. Look for a switch or panel. There should be some sort of-"

Carlos had just stepped on a pushed up floorboard and the sound of gears moving the floor filled the room. He stepped back as the table split apart revealing the secret elevator Alice had been about to mention. "I'll go first."

She grinned and both stepped onto the platform. "Why did you come back?"

"The anti-virus is down there. You still have time."

"Alice, why did you really come back?"

"I had to. They have taken so much already. I couldn't let them have you too."

"This could be a trap." He said checking his gun to distract them from their unvoiced feelings for each other.

"It probably is." She said as the elevator door dinged. The door opened and she instantly knew that bringing Carlos into this place would put him in more danger than he'd ever been. Darkness and the scent of death prevailed in the underground air but it didn't hide the stench of evil.

Carlos took point and taking a flashlight from the wall directed the meager light down the maze of corridors. Alice with her revolver locked and loaded covered their backs searching for any signs of life. As they walked further on they encountered only a few flickering lights and more walls covered in bloody hand prints. "What the hell happened down here?"

"Another experiment gone rogue," she answered.

They continued down the corridors and it became obvious that they would not find anybody alive; there was too much blood everywhere. They came upon a set of double metal doors that someone no doubt had assumed were undead proof. Judging from the long streaks of gore adorning the walls and general destruction, whatever had been trapped in here had proven them wrong.

As they searched the room, Carlos was the first to spot the spiral shaped vials and he eagerly ran to the mangled racks. Alice walked along guardedly but saw no sign of whatever had done this then she heard a noise.

In perfect unity, her and Carlos turned with guns pointed at a little girl dressed in white.

Carlos lowered his but Alice remembering another similar innocent looking child, didn't, especially since this one actually could have passed for human and that was always more dangerous in her opinion.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I am the artificial intelligence-"

"I know what you are." Alice interrupted. "I knew your sister. She was a homicidal bitch."

"My sister computer was merely following the most logical path for the preservation of human life."

"Yeah. Kill a few, save a lot." The white queen glanced curiously at Carlos who had gone back to searching the shelves while Alice holstered her weapon. "So what happened here?"

The little girl kept looking at Carlos but Alice's very obvious tapping of her gun made the A.I. answer her question. "Dr. Isaacs returned in an infected state. He was bitten by a creature that had been treated with a newly developed serum. A serum derived from your blood. The resulting infection has caused massive mutation."

"My blood?"

"You people don't learn do you?" Carlos directed at the girl. The A.I. merely glanced at him.

"Any anti-virus?" Alice asked ignoring the girl for the moment.

"No, only empty vials. Isaacs must have tried to treat himself when he came back."

"There has to be more in the labs."

"You won't find any and he is correct. Dr. Isaacs used it all in order to keep the mutation in check. It did not work but there is another way." She said walking closer to Carlos.

Alice on instinct stood in front of him blocking the white queen's advancement. "Tell me."

"How long since he was bitten?" the girl asked.

"Tell me or I'll-"

"Three or four hours." He interrupted. Alice glared at him but he shrugged. "She already knows, what's the harm in telling her."

"You are fortunate." The queen said smiling genuinely.

"So I've been told."

Alice rolled her eyes. Leave it to Carlos to be able to win over the twin of a murderous computer. The girl turned to the woman standing protectively in front of the oddly positive man, "your blood has bonded with the T-Virus. Dr. Isaacs correctly deduced that it could be used to destroy the biohazard for good."

The woman touched the man's arm, "you mean my blood is the cure to all this?"

"Correct."

"So why are you helping me?"

"Your blood is pure and this facility contains all the equipment you will require to synthesize a cure."

"You mean this could all end?"

"Correct. There is however a small problem."

"There always is."

The seemingly helpful girl led them to another fortified door only this time she appeared in the panel. "I have him contained in the lower levels but I cannot hold him there for much longer." Carlos stood at Alice's back ready to follow her in but a coughing fit had him gripping onto her for support until she could gently lower him to the floor.

"He is badly infected. He will only last an hour or two before the infection gets too great and-"

"You kill him."

"Correct." The girl said a look of remorse on her features. "End Dr. Isaacs, I will lead Mr. Olivera to the lab where we will begin the process. Be advised that there is a significant chance the cure may not work on him."

"I'll take that chance."

"I can't let you face him alone." He said coughing up more of the black liquid.

She wiped it off his mouth, "I need you safe and making that serum." She pressed the vial that contained her blood into his hand and gave him one last hard kiss, "don't hand it over until the very end. I still don't trust her."

Carlos nodded and she rose, gun loaded. "All right, let's go." She walked into the near pitch-black corridor with nothing but the hope that she'd come back to a healthy Carlos.

"Alice? Good luck." The A.I. didn't wait for a response and sealed the door behind her.

"Can she beat him?" Carlos asked rising slowly.

The little girl appeared before him and held out her hand. He let go of the wall and took it. "I hope so."

As Alice walked deeper into the lower levels more flickering lights revealed what had truly gone on down here and for once she was grateful only she had to see what other atrocity Umbrella had unleashed. Cubicles full of twisted and broken bodies littered the place along with bloody streaks and spent bullet casings that screamed that a massacre not a battle had taken place.

As much as she hated Umbrella and its scientists for destroying the world, she didn't think anybody deserved to die as horribly as these people had. Of course she almost changed her mind when she saw the familiar body floating in a watery bubble.

Outside she'd been too focused on getting Carlos and herself to safety to really scrutinize the many bodies in the pit and how they'd come to be there. But here there was nothing but her and the innocent clone hanging in mid air, and the idea that they raped her DNA for their experiments, made her glad that Isaacs had at least destroyed their ability to test anything.

The clone looked just like her before the HIVE fiasco and Alice found it hard to believe that her face and body had ever been that smooth, that her face had ever looked that young. She felt ages older as she stood and took in exactly how much Umbrella had stolen from her.

She was however deeply grateful that they'd only cloned her. She didn't know how she would have reacted to a room full of cloned Rains or Angies or God forbid another Carlos.

She snapped out of the clone induced hazed and began to search for Dr. Isaacs, the quicker she took care of him the faster she could get back to Carlos and the serum that could save humanity and get the hell out of this tomb.

She went around the water bubble so as to not disturb the being within and she raised her gun ready to fire at the first sign of movement. Apparently Alice was still a little shell-shocked from the clone and she was caught unawares as something hit her and she stumbled backwards into the bubble.

The clone's eyes snapped open and began struggling in its watery environment. What used to be Dr. Isaacs lunged at her but she threw one of her kukris and it lodged itself into his shoulder, he let out a terrible roar but she was too focused on the clone.

The bubble popped and it fell out and into Alice's arms, flailing in panic. Isaacs took the opportunity to escape and Alice tried to calm the terrified woman in her arms. The woman took a few short breaths but the shock of seeing her own face was too much and the clone expired. Alice shook her but she remained unresponsive.

Swearing revenge for what the clone would have gone through and to avenge the ones in that pit, Alice laid her down, covered her with her coat and went in search of Isaacs.

She followed the trail of blood and was transported straight into a nightmare. She stopped short confused as to how she had ended up back in the mansion that had destroyed the world.

Unable to believe that Umbrella would recreate such an evil place she searched the dark wooden walls with its wide windows and floor length drapes for differences. It was all the same even the angel statue preserved by its plastic was still at the end of the hall as was the fake wedding picture of Spence and herself.

She looked at the couple in it and wondered if they ever suspected they'd have a hand in bringing hell to earth. In a second she replaced Spence with Carlos and her desire for revenge became absolute. Something flashed in the photo's frame and Isaacs barely missed cutting her in half.

She leaped out of the way and he swung again and missed her head. She instantly regretted not picking up her other knife as she jumped backwards and avoided being eviscerated. She eyed Isaacs, he'd become the monster she always known he was; only it showed on the outside as well as in.

She slashed at his chest and dodged around him and slashed at his back. He growled in pain and she attacked to press her advantage but he easily threw her back and her knife went flying out of her hand only to end up blade down into the wooden floor.

"You can't kill me," he said as the slashes immediately began to stitch and knit together.

Alice ran to her knife and he lashed out tentacles that wrapped around her throat. She struggled to free herself and just as one of the tentacles rose up ready to pierce her face, she hit the ground with her heel and kukri sprung into the air and into her waiting hand. She cut them off and he launched another attack that met with the power of her mind.

He flew back through the wall but the force of the push was draining and Alice fell to the ground.

"Help her." Carlos shouted at the white queen as they watched the fight from inside the locked lab.

"I cannot. I do not have the ability to stop Dr. Isaacs."

"Then I will. Open up the door. I'm going down there." He said standing in front of the lab doors.

"Your infection is too far gone. You will only get her killed."

"I have to try."

"She is strong. You must trust this." Carlos reluctantly put down his gun and resumed the careful mixing of liquids the girl had shown him but his mind was trained on Alice and her fight for survival and a way out of the lab that didn't include the girl.

Isaacs got up and kicked at the remaining plaster, "I told you. I can't die." He roared and the sonic blast blew out the windows and lifted up the floorboards. Alice was caught in its full momentum and she was sent hurling through the wall and into a familiar white hallway.

"No." **'I will not die down here. I will not abandon Carlos. I will find Claire. I will look for Jill and more survivors. We will end the horror.'**

She kicked and punched with all her might and yet Isaacs took it without flinching. He knocked her to the ground and Alice stayed down, winded by the blow. "For so long, I thought you were the future. I was wrong. I am the future."

He raised his arm to strike not knowing the danger of the room but then he'd never experienced the defenses of either queen. Alice didn't bother to get off the ground. She could already feel the vibrations and hear the telltale hum of the deadly laser.

She laughed long and hard puzzling Isaacs. "No. You're just another asshole." The electric blue pulse came to life at the door, snapping and stretching the lines that would form the grid. "And we're both gonna die down here."

Carlos nearly dropped the vial of Alice's blood as her voice was amplified through the lifeless facility. _"No. You're just another asshole. And we're both gonna die down here."_

He ran to the camera feed and saw the laser powering up. "What the fuck is that?"

"It is one of my defense systems for testing of the Alice clone program."

"Turn it off!" he yelled.

"I cannot. Dr. Isaacs destroyed that capability when he turned. It can only be turned off manually from the monitor room."

"Tell me where it is. I'll do it!" he shouted desperately as the laser turned into a net of death.

"There is not enough time. I'm truly sorry. You must finish the serum if you want to survive the infection."

"Fuck the serum. Why the hell would I want to survive without her?" Helplessly he watched at the grid sliced through Isaacs and headed straight at Alice. He saw her lower her eyes and cover her head and the vial of her blood, the last bit of her, slipped out of his hands and crashed to the floor.

The grid stopped right at her feet then vanished as if it had never been. "How did…"

"It appears subject 87 is awake." The girl said and unlocked the door.

Carlos ran out of the lab and the queen opened the lower levels. He saw Alice's kukri on the floor, picked it up and followed the trail back the way it had come. He ran in and stopped as he spotted Alice standing in front of a computer, soaking wet and wearing nothing but a coat.

"Yeah, you're the future all right," she said to the screen a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

She looked up and before she could ask who he was, Carlos lifted her in his arms and began twirling her around. "Thank you. Thank you," he shouted over and over.

"I hope this isn't your way of telling me you're turning me in for a newer model." The real Alice said from the doorway.

Carlos nearly dropped the still shocked clone and ran to the real Alice. "Nah. I like you, you're perfectly broken in. With her I'd have to start from scratch."

The clone Alice gave an indignant huff but he winked at her and she instantly blushed. The real Alice hit his arm and he kissed her, clearly showing her which one he preferred.

"I hate to interrupt but you have a serious problem." The queen said.

"What now?" Alice asked annoyed.

"He has not taken the serum. The window is rapidly shrinking. He has approximately twenty minutes and the sample of you blood was lost. We must start a new batch."

"Lost?"

"I dropped it when I thought you were going to die," he explained.

"Why would you do that?" she asked.

"I was willing to die for you. I'm not willing to live without you."

"I'm torn between kissing you for being so sweet and hitting you for being so stupid."

"Stupid." The Alice clone said from behind them.

"Thanks," he replied sarcastically to the clone and was once more led back to the lab.

The clone followed curious of the tall handsome man and Alice handed her a weapon in an effort to keep her gaze off Carlos. "Never know," she said at Carlos' knowing smirk.

The clone took the gun and held it by the grip gingerly. Carlos took the gun showed her how to shoot and reload and handed it back. Alice stifled the urge to hurt the clone for the looks of pure adoration she kept throwing Carlos. Thankfully he was oblivious.

She gave another sample to the queen and they started another batch and once completed a syringe was loaded and pushed into his arm. "What now?"

"We wait. The results should be visible in a few minutes."

They sat around waiting and as promised the results of the injection began to show. The sickly pallor was immediately removed from his natural olive shade and the ring of yellow that had started to form in his eyes had vanished leaving the beautiful dark brown she adored.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

"A lot better. I feel brand new. Even better than when you dosed me in Raccoon City," he said.

"I'll get some bandages for his arm." The clone said reluctantly giving them privacy.

"I thought I had lost you." She said and clung to him.

"I thought you did too." He said but the moment didn't last and he began to scratch at his arm.

"What's the matter?"

"My arm feels funny." They looked down and noticed that the bleeding had stopped and the skin around the bite wound was no longer puckered with infection. In fact the wound was getting smaller and smaller. "Is that normal?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," she said taking a closer look.

"Alice…I don't feel so go-"

In that moment Carlos collapsed into Alice's arms. It happened so suddenly that all she could do was attempt to hold onto his dead weight, however after the taxing fight with Isaacs, Alice couldn't hold him for very long and she crumpled to the ground screaming for someone to help them.

The queen and Alice clone immediately showed up, the latter dismayed at seeing the former soldier unresponsive and cradled in Alice's arms. The queen ran a hand over him while the Alice clone dropped all the bandages and hurried to help the real Alice get him off the floor and onto the make shift operating table.

"What's going on? What's happening to him? What did you do to him?"

"Nothing, your blood should have worked. This should not be happening." The queen replied.

"If he dies, you do too." Alice hissed. "Carlos, wake up. Please don't leave me."

"Never," he said opening his eyes for a moment and giving her a shaky smile.

Alice laughed weakly and pressed her forehead to his but seconds later the smile fell from his face and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. "Carlos, Carlos!"

"I am sorry, Alice. I should have foreseen this complication."

"What complication? What the fuck are you talking about?" Alice yelled.

"This is not the first time he has been bitten nor is it the first time he has been treated. It is the reason the virus was so accelerated the second time. He was already susceptible."

"Meaning?" asked clone Alice since real Alice was talking nonsense to the unconscious Carlos.

"He couldn't adapt the virus before and now he can."

"Will he mutate?" Alice said tears running unchecked down her face. No matter how much she loved him, she knew he would not want to be what Matt had become. She would never condemn him to that kind of existence, she wouldn't allow it.

"I explained your blood is pure. As such it is mutating him but not like Matthew Addison or Dr. Isaacs. He will mutate like you. He'll be stronger, faster and possibly immune to more infection."

"Are you sure?" the clone asked.

"No. Even now his body is fighting for which strain will win. The one he had or the one injected."

"What happens if his body takes the one he had? What aren't you saying?" Alice said leaving his side.

"He'll remain human but his mind will be gone."

"He'll be a vegetable? And you couldn't tell me this before I injected him?"

"The serum is humanity's only hope. I could not risk you letting your feelings for him doom us all."

"You bitch, you're not even human!" Alice said and ran to the nearest circuit panel.

"I was only trying to help. Its what I was programmed to do."

"I'll fry every last one of your fucking circuits!"

"Alice!" her clone pulled her away from the panel but she was so enraged that she tried to fight her off. "This won't help him."

"Don't…" The two Alices and the queen grew silent. "I'm still here, give her a chance," he said softly.

Alice was let go and she kneeled at his side. "She lied to us."

"No, she told us there was a chance it might not work on me, remember."

"Don't make me choose."

"I'm not. You know what the right decision is and if I have to be the guinea pig so be it. Think of Kmart and Claire and Jill. Free of infection. Think of why Angie and L.J. died. Think of Matt."

"Why do you have to be so damm noble?" she said pressing her cheek against his stubbled one.

"Part of my charm-" he grimaced and arched up in pain.

"Carlos. Hold on."

He took some shallow breaths no doubt to say something witty but the pain was too great and he passed out. Alice bent her head and concentrated all her abilities on hearing his steady heartbeat. It was strong but sluggish.

"I'm afraid that you cannot leave this facility."

"How long?" Alice asked.

"Four months at the minimum. He must be incubated for his body to be at its full strength, if there is to be any success in adapting the virus."

"Can I trust you?"

"You have no choice."

**Seventeen hours later – North American Facility**

"Can they see us?" Alice asked the clone.

"No."

"Good."

The computer read Tokyo Umbrella Facility and there were five men seated at a table. "All attempts to contact the North American facility continue to fail."

"How long have they been off the air?" one of them asked.

"Seventeen hours."

"We must consider them lost. But our plans remain unchanged. All data will be transferred to this facility and the research will continue under my personal supervision. I expect results within one month."

"You won't have to wait that long, boys." Alice said popping up in holographic form at the front of the table. "Because I'm coming for you. And I'm gonna be bringing a few of my friends."

The men broke into confused arguing though Alice didn't really hear much as she automatically turned off the laptop and approached the newly found labs. The window to the main room was huge and overlooked a storage area full of blue watery bubbles. Each bubble held a familiar pale figure, a figure that was part of the army Alice would be setting loose on Umbrella.

The two Alice's, one real and one clone looked at the others still sleeping and then behind them to the lone bubble suspended exactly where clone Alice had been before saving the real Alice. Inside lay the one and only Carlos Olivera, sleeping.

"Will we be ready by the time he wakes? If he wakes?"

"We have to be. He will. " Real Alice said.


	3. Leaving

**Okay so I saw it again since I took my sister and mom to the movies yesterday. I have converted them both to official Carlice shippers. (Both of them got sick watching the blood bath club dancing scene in Blade. These are women who can't stand the sight of gore or killing of any kind and yet they have watched all five movies with me now. Ah the power of Carlice. Hee Hee.)**

**Sorry I was so proud that I had to share that total randomness with you guys. Anyway I will be updating on a more regular basis since some of the chapters are basically written just being proofread and cleaned up.**

**Thank you so much for the reviews and keeping this ship alive. You guys are awesome.  
**

**Enjoy and long live Carlice...**

* * *

"Alice we can't wait anymore."A4 said.

"Umbrella could already be on their way." A5 mentioned.

"If they were going to attack us they'd be here already." A3 reasoned.

"They don't have the resources to come after us. You saw the information from the other facilities." A2 muttered.

"He's dreaming," A1 said to Alice who was ignoring the chatter around her.

"You sure?" the original asked.

"His brain waves have spiked. We are getting readouts that indicate he may be coming out of it."

"Show me."

The rest of the clones grew quiet while Alice and A1 looked over the numbers on the screen.

"He'll have to be quarantined when he wakes." The White Queen said.

"I thought you were gone."

"My presence was not welcome. I chose to leave until the opportune moment."

"Well you presence is still not welcome." Alice said looking over the healthy yet comatose Carlos. "He would not be in there if not for you."

"Correct but he'd also be biohazard."

"Why does he have to be quarantined?" A1 asked. She was the closest of the clones to Alice and therefore the most human of them. She could also read their leader's moods easily and based on her coldness to the girl, Alice still hated the queen.

"He is the first to go through the treatment. There is no basis for comparison. He has had exposure to the virus a second time and the newly developed serum. We have no way of knowing what kind of reaction he'll have. We must know that before he can be released into the general populace."

"What general populace? The world is dead because of your experimentation and if you think I'm going to subject him to any kind of tests to satisfy your sick curiosity then you are as crazy as your sister computer."

"Its my facility. I can kill him at any moment."

"You wouldn't. You want this project too much." A5 said.

"He has to be quarantined or I will kill him."

Alice waved away the girl and resumed her silent vigil.

"We will quarantine him and perform the tests necessary to free him but they'll be done under our supervision and guidelines." A1 said and locked the queen out of the lab.

"Agreed. Good luck."

"What do you think he's dreaming about?" A5 asked once the Queen was gone.

A3 glanced at her and back to the brunette sitting in front of the screen. "Alice, he dreams of Alice. Just like we would dream of him if we could dream."

Alice heard the comment and left the room.

**"_Time to get out of bed, Ali."_**

**"_I don't want to." _**

**"_If you don't come out, I'll have to come in and get you."_**

**"_Is that a promise or a threat?" she asked from beneath the covers._**

**"_That depends on what you want it to be." He replied and yanked the blanket off the bed._**

**"_Carlos!" she squealed as the cold air hit her legs._**

**"_You took too long to answer," he said holding the covers unrepentantly. "I'm going to be late to work if you don't get up, babe."_**

**_Alice rolled onto her stomach and cuddled the pillow, "can't you call out and play hooky with me?"_**

**"_Big meeting or I would." He said and gave her butt a hard slap._**

**"_Tease," she said and rolled onto her side to better observe his morning ritual. She loved watching him get ready. There was something so sexy about his crisp white shirt and black tie combined with nothing but his boxers._**

**"_Come on, time to get that beautiful ass out of bed." He replied from the bathroom and she sat up._**

**"_Ok but do I get a kiss first?" She asked. He went around the bed leaned in and gave her a peck. "You call that a kiss?" She managed to say before she was pressed back into the bed by the very welcome weight of her husband. "So you staying?" she said wrapping her legs around his waist._**

**"_I could be a little late," he muttered sneaking a hand under her tank top._**

**"_Oooh, Mr. Olivera, what would your wife say?" Alice said playfully nipping at his jaw._**

**"_I don't know. You tell me, Mrs. Olivera." _**

**"_Smartass," she said and smacked his butt._**

**"_Always my love." _**

**"_I love you, Carlos." She said and her eyes changed colors._**

**"_Alice, what's wrong with your eyes?" _**

**"_Umbrella, our business is life itself," she replied then began convulsing._**

**"_Alice!"_**

**"_Our business is life itself, our business is life itself, our business is life itself." She kept saying then stilled._**

**"_Honey?"_**

**"_She is not real, Mr. Olivera but don't worry we will get you another as soon as we know more about this one." Dr. Isaacs said coming into the room and directing various Umbrella employees to gather samples. "I believe this one is our most successful to date."_**

**_One employee checked her pulse while another opened her eyes. "She's gone sir."_**

**"_Oh well. Throw her in with the others. Restart the scenario and doze this one." Isaacs pointed at Carlos who was frozen on the bed watching them. One of the scientists picked up the nearly nude Alice and carried her out. _**

**_Seeing his wife limp in the man's arms spurred Carlos and he fought to get to her. He disarmed two guards, killed one and threw a knife into the scientist, which released Alice into her husband's waiting arms. He cradled her and shouted at them while trying to find a way out of the crowded room."You stay the hell away from her."_**

**"_And just how are you going to keep us from taking her?" Isaacs asked curious. He waved off the man behind Carlos. "I am unarmed but I have several elite guards, if you can defeat them, I'll let you keep her, do we have a deal?"_**

**_Carlos nodded and put Alice down against the corner behind him. Even if he failed, they still would have to go through him to get to her. "Here let's start with this."_**

**_One of the men threw a knife and Carlos caught it and flung it at Isaacs. It embedded itself almost to the hilt in the man's head. The doctor fell to the floor dead a conniving smile still on his face. Carlos rolled into the man closest to him, took him down with a leg sweep and used him as a human shield, while using the man's own hand to shoot back at his comrades._**

**_Minutes later he dropped the body and looked around. Twelve men lay dead around him and he had no idea how he had accomplished it. _**

**_He felt the weight of the gun in his hand and it was not as foreign a feeling as it should have been. He popped the empty mag and after searching one of the dead found another and popped it in with the expertise of someone used to shooting all the time. _**

**_He heard a groan from behind him and he spun to see Alice trying to get up._**

**_He dropped the gun and went to help her. "Ali? Speak to me honey? Are you okay?"_**

**"_What happened to me? Why does it feel like I was ran over by your truck?"_**

**"_I don't know. On minute I was kissing you and the next you passed out." He said softly sliding his hands over her head to check for any bumps._**

**"_That's never happened before," she said and pulled his hands out her hair. "You better warn a girl if you plan on kissing her unconscious again." She said and kissed him softly._**

**"_I guess so."_**

**"_That is truly lovely. I can almost feel the love between you which is just extraordinary, I must say." Isaacs came in nudging the dead man that could be his twin with his boot._**

**"_I killed you." Carlos said pushing Alice behind him. _**

**"_Did you?" Isaacs felt his chest and looked down. "I don't think so. I feel quite alive but thank you for your concern."_**

**"_What's going on?" Alice said from behind her husband._**

**"_Alice, you're alive? Is that really you hiding behind this big strapping man you call a husband? My goodness now this is remarkable. I always thought that personality didn't change much between clones, remarkable." He said and motioned to the man neither Alice or Carlos had noticed behind them._**

**_The man hauled Alice away from Carlos while another pointed his gun right at his face. "Kneel or I kill her right here."_**

**_Carlos obediently knelt and Isaacs continued talking, "now as I was saying even though you two are very special, I was willing to let this little test run its course but since you didn't really defeat my men the deal is off."_**

**_"I won't let you take her," he said._**

**_"Don't worry you won't remember a thing, not even your dear sweet little wife." The man holding her ran a gloved hand down her side and Alice smiled shakily at her husband attempting to reassure him but her eyes showed him just how terrified she really was.  
_**

**"_Who are you people? What do you want with us?" he asked keeping his eyes on the man bothering his Alice.  
_**

**"_We don't want anything with you Mr. Olivera. Alice is ours not yours. She'll never be yours."_**

**"_No. She's my wife."_**

**"_You are just a dream and all dreams have to end." Carlos didn't have time to react as Isaacs jabbed the syringe into his neck. He saw the room grow fuzzy and he fell flat on his face. He looked up but Alice was still in the security guy's arms, though she was struggling. "Please let me go to him. I'll do anything just don't kill him."_**

**_ "I won't let you take her. I'll protect her," he slurred._**

**"_She's not yours to protect." The guard said and removed his helmet. "Not anymore, are you sweetheart?"  
_**

**"_Carlos?" Alice said twisting to look at the man holding her and back to her husband still on the floor. _**

**"_That's my name too. What a coincidence."  
_**

**"_I don't understand," she said looking back and forth between them._**

**"_You don't need to, from now on I'll be the only Carlos you'll know." Uniform Carlos replied and planted a kiss on the surprised woman._**

**"_Bastard, get your hands off her," Carlos shaking and wobbling began to get up but he was hit in the head with the butt of a heavy assault rifle before he could fully stand._**

**"_You are the reason we will get her back. You are weak and pathetic and you will cause her death. She is vulnerable as long as you are around, she cares too much for you and that will be her downfall. If you really love her then die for her." Isaacs said and with Alice's screams in the background everything went black._**

"He's going into cardiac arrest. We have to wake him now!" A16 shouted.

"You risk killing him." A23 responded looking at his vitals.

"He'll die if we leave him there." A16 said.

"Do it." A1 said and tapped a few keys to override the Queen's program.

"He will be very weak. We cannot take him with us." A3 said.

"I'll tell her." A1 said. "Get him comfortable. She'll want to see him before we go."

A16 and A34 got him off the floor and removed the face mask.

"He really is something isn't he?" The Queen said from the monitor.

"You are not allowed in here. A1's orders." A24 said from the control room.

"There are comfortable rooms on the third floor."

"You control that floor and we had an agreement, so go away." A3 said and shot the monitor.

The other clones looked at her in surprise. A3 was the quietest and the least violent of the clones. Maybe it was because despite everything they were all Alice' clones, and none of them liked the queen. They could understand the desire to shoot the smug girl in the face but to do it was something else.

To a certain degree they still depended on the queen and the girl could go homicidal at any time. It was unwise to provoke her. "I don't like how she looks at him, I don't trust her." A3 said running a hand tenderly through his wet hair.

A16 and A34 nudged her out of the way and carried him out. A5 came up behind her and patted her shoulder, "none of us like how she acts around him but we have to still do tests with that thing. No more shooting at her no matter how badly you want to."

A3 nodded and followed the other two clones to make sure that he was protected at all times.

On the first level and what was the fake farmhouse, A1 found Alice perfecting her powers. Every once in a while a group of undead would blow up. "You're getting better."

"Thanks. I don't feel as tired. We might actually have a shot."

"That's nice to hear." A1 said blowing up a group of her own.

"What can I say, I'm an optimist. Is he awake?"

"No but we had to get him out of the incubator early." A1 said preparing for Alice to vent her wrath on what remained of the undead. She didn't disappoint. The poor bastards never knew what hit them as group after group went flying into the sky.

She bent over with from the effort and A1 draped the weakened Alice's arm across her shoulders. They walked like this until they reached the elevator. Alice pulled away from A1 and straightened. "Why?"

"We almost lost him…again." A1 glanced at the ashen face of their leader and sighed.

In the course of the last two months, they'd almost lost him nine times. A tenth would weaken him further and he was already so close to death that if the tragic event happened not only would Alice be damaged but all her clones would be too.

The toll that his frail health was taking on the main Alice was obvious and another set back was not what they needed. A1 didn't bother to comfort Alice; nothing short of an amazing recovery would bring any change in their leader, so why bother.

They rode down in silence each one thinking their own disquieting thoughts. A1 knew exactly how Alice felt, in fact all the clones did, she wondered if Alice was aware of it. Apparently someone in Umbrella's genetics lab had developed a strange sense of humor because through some bizarre twist of fate all the clones felt and shared the real Alice's feelings, including the ones for the enigmatic former U.B.C.F soldier.

A1 had noticed it the first time he had a dream at the very beginning of his stasis. Every clone that was still asleep began thrashing around and a good amount of them woke and fell out of their containment bubbles. Several had fallen from the higher tiers and died on impact, his name on their lips.

"We had no choice-"

"Don't." Alice warned.

"Don't? Don't what? Don't tell you the reality? Don't tell you that our deadline is approaching? Don't tell you that it's been longer than four months? His mind could already be gone?"

A1 was immediately raised off her feet and pinned to the elevator wall by the throat. "I said don't."

"Killing me won't change the facts, you have to let him go before it kills us all." A1 gasped and saw a burst of stars as the oxygen was cut off. She was going to be suffocated but she couldn't hate Alice, her pain was raw and uncontrolled and A1 felt every bit of its sharp edge in her own body.

Just as she was going to black out, Alice dropped her. "I'm sorry," she said and slid down next to her. "I can't deal with it again. I can't lose him, he's all I have left."

Alice buried her face in her knees and A1 scooted closer. She hugged the other woman and let her cry into her shoulder. The elevator had already reached the ground floor but Alice still needed to compose herself. "We've almost lost him over half a dozen times and he's come back every time. He wants to come back to you but you have to be strong for the others."

Alice thanked her and got to her feet. She tugged A1 up and together walked past several Alices guarding the hallways. "Where is he?"

"A24 and A16 have him in Block 2, section 45."

Alice nodded and the clones moved out of the way as their leader approached Block 2, section 45. "He's in here." A57 said opening the door to one of the twelve luxury rooms inside the facility.

"Thank you, that will be all."

The clones guarding him saluted and left. "I'll get them started on loading the choppers," A1 said but Alice didn't even answer, she was already sitting down beside the man that meant everything to them.

**Three Days Later - Umbrella Nevada Facility Main Cafeteria Hall**

"We need to tell her."A16 commented.

"I'm not interrupting her now. She almost killed A1 a few days ago and that was just to tell her that he was out of that bubble, imagine telling her that she has to leave him behind? I don't think so, that is a suicide mission."A39 said.

"We all want to take him but he's too fragile. I'm sure she'll understand that." A4 ventured timidly. Forty-two pair of eyes turned to stare at her and the poor clone resumed her meal mutely.

"I will tell her," A10 said. "The choppers are loaded and set. We cannot back out or postpone the plan any longer not if we want Umbrella to pay and Alice wants that more than anything."

"So how do we travel with him injured and without getting him killed and take out Umbrella at the same time?" A3 asked knowing very well that Alice would not risk it.

"A1 is on her way to tell her. A23 report to Block 2, section 45 immediately."

A23 didn't even bother to finish her meal, she just left. Nobody could fault her. The closest the clones had ever been to him was in the incubator and that was from outside the room. Nobody was allowed in there unless both Alice and A1 were present. None of them knew anything but his name and the fact that he was significantly attached to the real Alice.

Early on when they first awoke some of the more fortunate ones had gotten to see the last video the Queen had done when Isaacs and Alice had been fighting. Those that saw it fell irrevocably in love with the tall, charming and handsome soldier that did everything in his power to save their Alice.

A1 had taken the recording and removed it since all it did was confuse the hell out of the remaining clones, who had never seen him and sent the real Alice into a spiraling depression that took weeks to get her out of, weeks they couldn't afford so it vanished and to this day nobody knew where it was. Not even the real Alice.

After the recording was gone, the closest the clones could get to him was to stare into that room with the blue bubble that was hopefully saving his life. None could blame A23 for wanting to see him up close and personal but none of them would want to be in her shoes when she told Alice he couldn't go.

**Block 2, section 45**

"A23 as requested."

"Thank you, A14."

A23 shuffled her papers and nervously went in. "Wow this place is huge and is that really…it is. I've only seen him…well we've only seen him in…the um…not that I was staring at him…not that there isn't a reason to stare at him…I mean I would never..."

A1 covered her smile and even Alice looked less serious, "he is very handsome isn't he? He is also very brave and he has this smile…it was something-"Alice trailed off her gaze focused once more on the man on the bed. "But you aren't here to hear me reminisce. You are here to tell me the cold hard truth."

"I wish I had better news." A23 replied not wanting to put more sadness into those blue eyes.

"Tell her." A1 said.

"He is very weak. His brain waves are at normal levels. We are monitoring him even now and he is behaving in a very favorable way. In a few short months he should be awake and…"

"Months. We don't have months." Alice snapped getting up from his side for the first time in days.

"I told you that you had to make a choice."

"Shut up."

"He would want you to make a choice that is for the greater good." A1 replied ignoring the warning signs of a psychic attack.

"You knew him less than an hour. Don't pretend you know anything about him."

"I didn't have to know him. He told you so. He told you to think of the others. He said it and we both heard him. He has to stay behind."

"No!" Alice shouted and the massive wave of psychic energy that she released shook the building all the way to the surface.

**'_Where are you going?' he asked._**

**'_I have to go,' she said._**

**'_Why?'_**

**'_I killed Angie.'_**

**'_No, you didn't,' he said reaching out to her._**

**_She stepped out of reach, 'I did. I couldn't control it. What if I did it again?'_**

**'_You won't,' he said attempting to lead her back into the house._**

**'_I'm not human anymore,' she said sadly._**

**'_You're the most human of us,' he said._**

**'_I'll get you killed.'  
_**

**'_You'll kill me if you leave,' he replied._**

**_She stayed still and he approached her like a skittish animal. Inch by inch he closed the gap between them and hugged her. He felt her bone deep wariness, felt the guilt that was eating her alive. 'You're leaving me.'_**

**'_I'm right here.' She said her voice muffled against his chest._**

**'_No you're hiding yourself away where nobody can reach you, nobody can get hurt. Where nobody can love you and leave you. Where you can't love them back."  
_**

**'_I don't know love.'_**

**'_Yes you do.'_**

**'_I'm afraid to, I'm afraid of letting you down.'_**

**'_Don't let me down and stay. I'll help you in every way I can,' he said and raised her face putting his warm lips on her cold ones. She opened her mouth and it was like being plunged into an icy lake. She pushed against him guiding them to the nearest room._**

**_He pulled away only to gather more air and this time their kiss was sweltering. This time it was she that was being shoved into water but unlike her freezing kiss, Carlos' was full of heat and warmth. It was like being submerged into a hot spring that soothed her tired body._**

**'_We don't have to,' he said giving her one last out. He'd be sorry if she agreed to stop but he wanted it to be her decision. He didn't want to take advantage of her vulnerable state. She had to want it as bad as him, as bad as he wanted her._**

**'_I want to, I need you," she said and attacked him._**

**_They fell to the bed in a tangle of limbs that had nothing to do with love and everything to do with wild destructive passion that proved you were still alive and still human. She dropped her weapons by the side of the bed and stripped him of his just as easily._**

**_He pulled her back for a kiss that she didn't break until she was completely topless. He let go of her long enough to throw of his vest and shirt and she didn't lose a moment to press her flesh to his._**

**_His hand slid up her back and down to her side but she impatiently grabbed it and roughly palmed her breast with it. She cried out and he froze afraid he'd hurt her but she begged him not to stop. He grazed her chest with whiskered cheek and she writhed on his lap making him hold her down to keep the mounting pressure going._**

**'_Too much clothes…'she panted and undid his pants._**

**'_I agree.' He said hooking his fingers on the edge of her jeans. She was slight and the material slid down her toned legs effortlessly revealing her in all her glory for the first time. She climbed back onto him with nothing but his boxers between them._**

**_She rocked back and forth and he lifted her off him and laid her on the bed, tugging the last piece of clothing off. She lifted her hips and he slid into her in one smooth motion. Her fingers bit into his shoulders and he moved back and forth to the rhythm she set..._**

"Alice!"

"I'm here. What happened?"

"We don't know. You had a seizure or something like it. You just screamed and then flopped to the ground. Are you okay?" A23 asked shinning a light into Alice's eyes.

"I'm fine a bit of a headache but that's it." Alice climbed to her feet and sat hard on the edge of Carlos' bed. **'We never…did we?'**

"The chopper is ready and we need to leave, it's now or never." A1 told her.

"He can't go but I will not leave him unguarded. A1 you'll be in charge. Pick ten and I'll lead the rest to the Tokyo facility."

"May I stay?" A23 asked.

"Yes, round up A3 and A24. They'll be staying too. I'll get the rest after I help Alice gather our supplies."

A23 departed leaving A1 and Alice alone. "These are the coordinates to Arcadia. If anything happens to me find Claire Redfield and Jill Valentine. Take him and the others and destroy this facility. Do not let the Queen now," whispered Alice and laid a hand on A1's shoulder, "be careful."

"I will."A1 stepped out of the room and let Alice say her goodbyes.

"Carlos, I don't know if you can hear me but I have to go. I wish I didn't but I made you a promise and if God forbid you don't come out of this, I want to be able to say I at least kept my promise if nothing else."

She bent down and touched his forehead with hers. "I'll be back. The girls will protect you and I know you will take care of them. Come back to me and I'll do anything in my power to return to you. I love...you."

She lifted his hand gave it a kiss and left the room. The door closed and his fingers twitched.


	4. Arriving

lulubelle6:**The dreams were fun to write. I got most of his from the trailer for RE:R and there is nothing sexier than Oded Fehr in just his boxers. If they had showed that in the movie, they would have happier fangirls.  
**

Angel la chica de luz: **Muchas gracias, estoy tratando de escribir mas seguido. I'm trying to keep them in character and write more often.**

TruShadowKing:** Thanks, I'm glad you like the different aspects of each story.**

**Obviously a good amount of dialogue and scenes are directly from the movie. I'll update EIHS tomorrow but for now enjoy and thanks again to all my reviewers. I'm gonna make it a point to answer all your comments.**

* * *

"Ladies, I don't have to tell you how important this mission is, " A10 began.

"But you are going to anyway," shouted A49.

"Damn straight." A10 continued. "We are to infiltrate and destroy the secondary Umbrella branch in Tokyo. Once that is done we will rendezvous with Alice and the others and go on to destroy Umbrella Prime off the coast of Russia. Any questions?"

"No ma'am." The Alices shouted.

"We are approaching their headquarters." A2 said from the cockpit.

"All right. Remember that our main objective is destroying everything and anything that relates to Project Alice. Wesker is our secondary objective."

They hovered over the roof of Umbrella's dummy building, where several men dressed in full gear were passing the time shooting at the biohazards on the street below. "Dropping now!" A2 shouted.

The girls jumped out of the helicopter and killed the umbrella soldiers quickly not bothering to keep the noise down. A4 tripped one of the alarms coming down and the whole place lit up. "Damm!"

"Oh well. I guess it's now or never." A39 said and slid her slim body into one of the air ducts. The remaining Alices followed and began splintering off into different directions once inside the building's ventilation system.

"Well that's one hell of a welcome." A14 muttered watching the sea of black uniforms running up the stairs towards the main surface gate, from her perch above the main control.

"Radio silence," A10 growled in her ear.

"Yes, ma'am." A14 saluted the invisible woman. She heard snickering through her com and knew that that rest of the Alices were near by. "In position."

"Wait for my signal." A10 said.

"Holding."

**Umbrella Corporation Headquarters – Tokyo - Central Control**

"Sentry three respond." One of the men at the computers turned to his superior and said, "we lost contact with another one."

Chairman Wesker sauntered out of his cozy office and into control. Something was obviously happening that he was not aware of and he prided himself on knowing everything about his surroundings at all times.

"Chairman Wesker." The captain of security greeted.

"Report," Wesker snapped.

"Sir, a half-an hour ago, we began to lose contact with some of our perimeter sentries."

"How many have we lost." Wesker interrogated.

"All of them."

"And you waited 30 minutes to tell me?"

The captain stumbled with his words. "We thought it was a communications problem. I didn't want to disturb you."

"Give me the surface gate."

The man in front of Wesker complied and immediately brought up the surface gate computer interface. Another man appeared before the screen.

"This is Chairman Wesker."

"Sir." The man on the screen nodded in respect.

"Report your situation."

"Everything is quiet here." The man said.

"No sign of intruders?" Wesker questioned.

"Go," A10 said into her com and shoved the edge of her sword into the man's neck forcing him to lean back and making his throat constrict as if he wanted to say something.

"Hotaka?" Wesker asked.

"We have movement." The tech said as Hotaka's mouth opened allowing all his blood to escape down his chin and the screen went haywire.

"Multiple targets," the chief of security announced glancing at all the dots on the screens around him.

"Surface gate, identify targets. Repeat, identify targets." Wesker shouted.

"Sir, elevator 2 is moving."

"I want security at that elevator now." Wesker commanded.

Dozens of men converged at the front of the elevator with their shields on the ground and the guns resting on top of them while the ones without shields pointed in between the gaps. So intent on their formation were they that they didn't notice the vent gate swing open behind them and the lone woman in black that slipped silently to the ground.

The elevator counted down the floors and all were silent as the doors opened to reveal no one. Confused one man turned to say something to his fellow guard just in time to see a flat metal point come flying at him and embed itself into his chest.

Two other men went down as the throwing stars found their targets and the woman drew out her swords. She sliced through them like butter and even used one of the shields to jump and change positions in mid air and decapitate two others as she landed.

Two more rushed her and she used her forward momentum to shove her swords deep into their stomachs. Several more appeared and she began shooting indiscriminately while spinning, ducking and weaving her way between pillars to avoid the hail of bullets.

Running out of pillars she took off and ran into another soldier, which she impaled and then used as a shield and shooter at the same time. The men would have been impressed with her technique if they hadn't been so intent on killing her instead.

She dropped the body, pushed off the man's shoulder and twisted avoiding another spray of bullets that broke her sword as she deflected them. She landed but not before flinging the remainder of her sword into the skull of the man shooting at her.

She landed gracefully and the man dropped to her feet as if bowing down to her dance of death. She would have bowed had she not heard the telltale sound of multiple guns being cocked in her direction. "Now what are you going to do?" A39 said in her ear.

A2 turned and faced her would be killers and opened her eyes wide. A release of telekinetic power ripped up the floor of the underground structure and flung their comrades, their guns and anything not nailed down towards the soldiers in a tidal wave of debris.

The men were obliterated and A2 finally bowed.

"Show off." She heard in her earpiece.

A2 walked through the remains careful that all the men were indeed dead. She heard footsteps and changed directions in time to see another set of men approaching her. She stood in front of them and widened her eyes but three bullets exploded through her chest before she could release her power and she collapsed in a heap.

The men gathered around her and the one who had shot her kicked her high-heeled shoe to verify that she was really dead.

"Hey, boys." A voice said from the shadows.

The men looked up and found not one but three replicas of the woman lying dead in front of them. Except these copies were very much alive and holding weapons and they looked spitting mad.

A14 and A39 stepped out from behind A10 pulling their guns from their holsters. A10 twirled the swords in her hands and asked, "is that anyway to treat a lady?"

Wesker watched as the two clones pumped the second batch of men full of lead while all around him, clones of Alice killed his men and sabotaged everything on every floor. Sector 32's camera zoomed in on the figure and there was no doubt about who it was. The woman smiled into the camera and shot it. "Tell security to flood the main entrance with nerve gas."

"Sir, our men are still up there." The chief of security protested.

Wesker shot the man in the head and the techs swung around in their chairs to glance at the falling body. "Any more questions?"

"Intruders in Sectors 1 through 5, 7 and 8." One tech said.

"Reports of gunfire in Sectors 10 and 11." Another reported.

A massive explosion in the floors above them rocked the building and the men began to rise. "Stay at your stations." Wesker said motioning to the dead chief of security. The men cowered in their seats but did as they were told. "All security protocols are now in full effect. Lock down all elevators. Seal all internal blast doors. And I want damage reports."

A14 had thought she'd run into safety when she ducked into a nearby lab but she had clearly been wrong by the sounds of thundering boots running behind her. Apparently one of Umbrella's thugs had spotted her and he'd brought a whole group of his friends for her to play with.

Normally these would still be fair odds but she was running out of ammo and it didn't help that she'd been separated from A39 and A10 and was worried about their safety while she was stuck trying to shoot her way back out. Luckily she could bide her time hidden behind a nearby pillar, the things were conveniently placed everywhere. If she ever got to meet Wesker, she'd ask him if he secretly wanted to be a Roman emperor.

She took a breath and leaned her head back against the cold concrete trying not to think of how few clips she had left at her disposal.

"I hope you aren't taking a nap, cause this is definitely not the place for it."

A14 looked to her left and was pleased to see the tired but determined face of A39 leaning similarly against her own pillar, "fancy meeting you here. Are you okay?"

"As much as possible given all the bullets that have been flying at me, you?"

"Same, where's A10?"

"She went further down, said she had to get vials for Alice."

The men that had been momentarily forgotten came back with a vengeance as they got heavier artillery that not only hit their hiding spots but also penetrated them barely missing both Alices. "I think we better move," A14 said.

"Ready when you are," A39 announced and both women came out from behind their shelter and let loose a stream of bullets. Several of the men went down and while they regrouped the women retreated to reload.

"I'm almost out." A14 said.

"Me too but I still have this." A39 opened her hand to show off the grenade.

A14 nodded, got her own and let go of the pin at the same time as A39, in unison they stepped out and tossed it to the men still grouped at the opening of the room. The men watched the canisters curiously letting the weapons roll close to them unaware of what they were.

The women laid down cover fire as they ran toward the giant glass window at the back of the room and threw themselves backwards through it. They free fell for a few floors before each throwing a grapple onto the underside of one of the floors as the room above them exploded.

They shot as they traveled down the middle of the building, pulling the attention of more and more security as they flew by their floors. "It was a pleasure," A14 said knowing that this move was fully kamikaze but it was necessary to get the vials that Alice had asked A10 to procure.

"Thank you ladies, it was an honor." A39 heard in her ear and she knew that A10 had gotten what she needed and was safely out of the facility. "Time to go." She said to her companion.

They shot indiscriminately; mostly doing a general spray to keep Wesker and his men concentrated on them and not on the real Alice or the remaining clones. Most of their comrades were still alive but they wouldn't remain for long if they didn't do their job.

The gunfire to her right ceased and A39 briefly saw A14 jerk backwards as the bullet hit its mark in the center of her forehead. A39 reached her destination and pulled the pin that secured her to her line. She landed feet first on one of the desks and didn't cease her firing.

All that remained of central control was Wesker and one lone man. She took him out but others poured into the room from the sides. She easily contained them then when more appeared on the bridge; she back flipped behind the safety of the desk she'd been standing on to keep them at bay.

Those were soon dispatched and she got up to exit the hub only to feel the warmth of the bullet tunneling through her chest. She fell back but managed to get the grenades at her waist. "Good luck," she whispered and pulled the pins.

Wesker approached carefully, he knew Alice and he wasn't going to chance her clones not being as clever as her. He looked down into the lower levels seeing the remaining clones shoot and take out what was left of his men. He would have to leave Tokyo and go to Umbrella Prime but first he wanted to find out why Alice had risked all her little friends to come here.

In the grand scheme of things, even he knew that he was not that important to the woman's revenge. There had to be another reason, something personal driving her.

The fallen clone was on her side and he kicked her over ready to put a bullet in her brain for good measure, you never knew with these things, but having rolled her onto her back made her arms fall to her sides releasing the grenades clutched in her hands.

Wesker had mere seconds to notice that the pins were gone before he dived out of the control hub.

The explosions were now so numerous that most of the clones had stopped fighting and were now only trying to find a way out. Wesker paid them no attention as he made his way to his private helipad, his clothes still smoking from having barely having escaped the most recent blast.

From the cockpit of his plane he watched in amusement as the remaining clones came out shooting at him but he didn't care. He knew that the facility was completely compromised but after he purged it, every last one of his dirty secrets would be destroyed.

At least the ones he hadn't taken with him, Project Alice would still not be safe from him or Umbrella. Nothing she or clones could do would change that.

"He's getting away." A57 said as she and eight others continued shooting.

"Doesn't matter." A12 said.

"A10 got what she needed and we had relatively few loses."A32 replied over the gunfire.

"We need to leave, our job here is done," A8 said holstering her weapon.

The others stopped shooting. "Let's go." A13 said.

At that moment they heard an ominous beeping. A42, who was closest to the doorway saw the red numbers counting down from four and shouted. "Come on, move. Go, go everybody-"

"Get out." A20 shouted up and down the stairs as the rest of the clones ran past her but it was already too late for them. The blast was instantaneous and its force ripped apart the complex creating a blue tornado that ate everything in its path.

It pulled up the foundations and dragged nearby buildings and cars into it feeding the debris and turning the tornado into a blue ball of energy that sucked up large parts of the biohazard decimated Tokyo.

'_Turbulence, Turbulence, Turbulence.' _The plane's voice stated.

Wesker smirked as the facility and many miles around it were turned into a giant hole. Alice may be strong but she wouldn't survive that. _'Turbulence, Tur-'_ Wesker turned off the machine's voice as the plane stabilized and he changed course to head towards Umbrella Prime.

Alice tried not to cry as the plane went up and showed her a good view of the devastation. There had been so many still in there. She shook off the grief, it wouldn't do her any good now and she would mourn her clones later but for now she had a job to do.

Alice channeled the rage she felt at every senseless death Umbrella had caused, including her beloved clones, stood up and left the cover of the stashed cargo to put an end to Albert Wesker and his corporation once and for all.

She stealthily crept up the middle of the plane while Wesker's attention was riveted on the damage below and took advantage to sneak up and put a gun to his head, "any last words?"

With inhuman speed he jabbed a needle into her exposed neck and emptied the contents of it into her. Alice tried to yank it out but the damage was already done. She could feel the new virus flowing through her and changing her from the inside out and wondered if this was what Carlos had felt when she had injected him with her blood back in Las Vegas.

She really hoped not for his sake, because even with her enhanced powers the pain was excruciating. She couldn't imagine going through that with nothing but his humanity to deal with it.

Wesker apparently knew what it was doing to her but it didn't stop him from answering her last question. "How nice to finally meet the real you."

Alice always knew that her sarcastic mouth would get her in trouble and this was the proof. She tried to make a comeback but the effort it took to try to form words accelerated her heart so much that it was a wonder that she didn't drop dead from a heart attack right then and there.

"Hurts, doesn't it? Well, that's just the start of the bad news. All those power of yours: speed, strength, accelerated healing. Well, you can kiss all those goodbye."

Alice managed to finally extract the syringe and it made a sucking sound as it pulled out of her skin, "what have you done?" she asked.

"The serum I've injected you with is neutralizing the T cells in your body. Put simply the Umbrella Corporation is taking back its property."

Alice semi-rose and looked to the end of the plane briefly. She knew that A10 was hiding right there only a stone's throw away but she was not going to jeopardize another clone, she already had the death of seventy on her hands.

She shook her head hopefully conveying to A10 not to come to her aid and stay safe. Lucky for her Wesker liked to hear himself talk and was going on and on, completely unaware of the other Alice onboard, "you just didn't work out, so you're being recalled."

Alice tried to sucker punch him but he caught her hand and twisted it. She screamed as the little bones in her hand broke and then as if to show her how weak she now was, Wesker gave her a hard kick to the stomach slamming her into the side of the plane.

Winded she tried again but he just kept blocking her blows while she could do nothing but absorb his. He hit her hard forcing the breath out of her until she was bent over then he delivered an elbow to her spine dropping her on all fours. He kicked and punched her down the plane until she came to rest no more than a few inches from the hidden Alice.

Tired of beating her up, Wesker pulled out a gun and pointed at the wheezing woman, "I am what you used to be. Only better."

She knew that it was taking all of A10's self-control to keep from lounging at Wesker and killing him where he stood but Alice already knew that she was going to die. The hits he'd delivered were full of the virus strength and she was pretty sure he'd punctured at least one lung, if her labored breathing was any indication.

She wasn't a doctor but even Alice knew coughing up blood was bad. She was also painfully aware that internal bleeding could be a factor and she needed A10 to make it back to Las Vegas and Carlos and the rest of the clones even if she'd didn't make it. Wesker's mutation had a more feral strength than A10; she'd be no match for him even with her abilities.

"Please wait."

"Last words?" He said echoing her question.

'**I love you Carlos. I am so sorry. I tried so hard to get back to you. Please forgive me.'**

"Thank you," she said. It wasn't to Wesker; she was beyond caring about the petty man. It was meant for A10 to deliver to the remaining clones and to Carlos, especially Carlos.

"For killing you?" he asked

'**I'll protect him with all I have. My promise to you Alice.'** A10 thought not looking away from Alice's soon to be murder scene. If she had to go back to Carlos alone then she'd want to be able to tell him exactly what Alice had sacrificed for their safety.

"For making me human again."

'_Pull up. Terrain. Terrain.'_ The computer voice said distracting him as it repeated it over and over again. '_Pull up. Terrain. Terrain.'_

Wesker ran towards the control but even with super speed, he would not make it, they were going to crash into the mountain. In that moment as the plane was diving down time seemed to slow down.

While Wesker had tried to get to the controls, Alice had been propelled forward but she wasn't the only one. A10's whole body had gotten caught up in one of the cargo nets but her arms had managed to slip through the holes and were holding onto Alice's boots with both hands.

Alice looked down and clasped one of them and used it to pull herself towards the net in that brief second before crashing. They held onto each other and braced for impact.

Alice awoke to see wreckage all around her. She checked her body for broken bones or other injuries but found only bruises from Wesker's beating. Satisfied with the inspection she gingerly sat up and looked around for Wesker's body, beside her A10 stirred.

"Alice?"

"Hey."

"We survived?" A10 said.

"Seems like. You okay?"

"Nothing broken but I'm sure I'll be doubly sore later on. What about Wesker?"

"I don't know. I can't see too far and most of the plane is on fire. If we are really lucky he died."

"When have we ever been lucky?" A10 asked ruefully.

"Yeah, I know either way we need to get going."

"Back to Vegas."

"You still got it?" Alice said stumbling around while trying to avoid pieces of flaming wreckage.

A10 patted the hard case she'd slipped into her holster. "Looks like."

"Good. Glad to know that all those deaths weren't in vain." Alice said angrily.

"It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known that he'd do that."

"I should have. I worked for them. I know what they are capable of; I should have thought it out better. The cost was too high."

"The cost is always too high, otherwise everybody would pay it. Alice, please remember that we are you, they wanted what you wanted and we all knew what that meant."

A10 paused and held the other woman's hand to her heart. "This beats only because of you. It continues because of you. You broke us out and saved us from Umbrella. The others knew that and they were willing to sacrifice for you and him but most of all, for themselves, to have a purpose other than lab rats to be experimented on."

"They shouldn't have died that way." Alice said softly and wondered if the others in Las Vegas were all right, if he was all right.

"They shouldn't have been born at all, nobody regrets what they did. Myself included. Lets get off this mountain before we freeze to death, they didn't die so you could give up."

"I'm not, not ever but I could use something to drink, a very strong something. Remind me to look for a bar along the way." Alice joked wiping at her teary eyes.

"Drinks are on me if we find one."

**Las Vegas Umbrella Facility – Twelve Hours Earlier**

"Hello?"

"You're awake. I'll get A1."

"Alice, wait!" Carlos struggled to get up but he was still weak from waking up from an eight month medically induced comma. "Hello? Is anybody here?" Getting no answer he tried once more to get up and at least investigate his surroundings. "Where am I?"

"You are in Umbrella's lab in the Nevada desert." A voice said from the doorway.

"Alice?" he asked squinting at the figure obscured by the shadows.

The woman stepped in and she inched forward not sure of how he was going to respond. Alice had left a little over two hours ago and nobody had expected him to wake so soon, she hadn't expected him to wake ever. It was actually kind of a miracle. Naturally given what he'd been treated with, A1 was cautious of his behavior and didn't volunteer anything more than she absolutely had to.

Carlos didn't seem to care as he attempted to tug her to him. Unable to accomplish it, he kept a hold of her hand instead. "I've missed you."

"I am not Alice," she said uncomfortably removing her hand from his. "My name is A1."

He studied her carefully and leaned back against the wall tiredly processing the information and seeing the differences only he would notice. "Your hair is longer and darker. You're the clone that saved her, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. I'm also responsible for your well being in her absence," she said.

"Where's Alice?"

"She left."

"Left, where?" he asked.

"She went to Tokyo, to destroy what is left of Umbrella." Another Alice said from behind A1.

"He is not authorized to know that." A1 scolded the other Alice.

"What's your name?" Carlos asked interrupting their argument and extending his hand to her.

The clone shyly shook his outstretched hand and introduced herself. He didn't let go right away and she knew that he was attempting to find someone to hold onto that had something of his Alice. "My name is A23 and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"A stands for Alice and the number you are, right?"

A23 nodded pleased that he understood. It meant his brain had healed quickly and that was cause for celebration. "Do you know who you are?"

"Carlos Olivera, former leader of U.B.C.F and Raccoon City survivor. I led a convoy with Claire Redfield and was on the run from Umbrella a few months with Jill, L.J. and Alice."

"That's very good, what's the last thing you remember?" she asked taking notes on a pad she'd pulled from her coat.

"I was with Alice and A1 in a lab. The White Queen had helped Alice create a serum from her blood… which Alice injected in me…to cure me from the bite…I…um…sustained in the desert."

"You don't remember anything else?" A1 asked.

"Alice hugging me," he said without a trace of embarrassment.

"Your brain doesn't seem to have had any significant trauma. You've been asleep for a while so temporary memory loss is to be expected. I'll have to run some tests to know for sure and the Queen will want to run a few herself but I promise that I'll keep watch over you while she does. Alice said that if anything happened…" she trailed off at the glare A1 was throwing her.

"Memory loss? How long have I been asleep? How many clones are there?"

"You need to take it easy for now-" A1 started to say but Carlos' angry gaze silenced her.

"I will when you tell me why Alice is risking herself to get back at Umbrella when we should be heading to Arcadia? She didn't go alone, did she?"

"Alice and seventy clones went to the second largest Umbrella facility, which is located in Tokyo. She knows that all the information that Dr. Isaacs took from the mutated biohazards as well as the stuff on her has been sent there. She went to take them back so that they don't have anything to control her with, she's also looking to take back what remains of the t-virus."

"How long has she been gone?"

"She left a few hours ago."

"Why didn't she wait for me? Was I out that long?"

A23 carefully looked at A1, "tell him."

"You've been in a coma for eight months." A23 answered, "she couldn't wait for you anymore."

He tried to pace but all he could do was walk along the wall. A1 tried to stop him but he shrugged her off and she let him continue stumbling along. A23 could see the confusion and worry all over his face and decided to just let him know everything.

If Alice didn't make it back, they'd have to tell him anyway. "The serum from Alice's blood is essentially another virus. Since you were exposed to the original virus in Raccoon City and the antidote, your DNA was altered enough to mutate you if exposed a second time. That's why the virus from the second attack went through your system so much faster. Your body had to choose between the original or the one that Alice had adapted."

"I don't feel different."

"We won't know for sure if you are until we run the tests and the Queen has threatened to harm you if we don't do them and make sure you aren't dangerous."

"I'll do them. I need to know if it changed me."

"For now you need to rest and get some natural sleep. Stasis was only meant for your body to be able to adapt to the rigors of the virus."

"How many Alices did you say there were?"

"I didn't. There are ten of us here now. Rest because tomorrow will be a busy day."

"Thank you for staying behind." He said making his way back to the bed now that he was feeling the pull of real and not chemically induced sleep. A1 nodded from the doorway and A23 waved.

"You said that she couldn't wait anymore. What did you mean by that?"

"The White Queen said your mind would be lost if you didn't wake up by the fourth month. The chances of you waking up intact fell after the fifth month. After six months you weren't supposed to wake at all."

"She waited for eight months." He said in awe of Alice's devotion.

"Like I said, she couldn't wait anymore." A1 told him closing the door behind them.

Neither made a move to actually leave after the door closed. They were too drained after that conversation and too worried about his sudden awakening and the fact that Alice was out there unaware that he was back among the living.

None of the Alices left had any allusions as to what kind of mindset the real Alice had left in. Her expression had been so hopeless that even the stoic A39 had looked ready to cry.

'_Three days. You have three days to come back or get in touch with us if you run into any trouble. After that we go looking for you.' A1 told her._

'_If I'm not back in a week, you leave this place. You head to Arcadia and take Carlos to Claire.' Alice ordered to all the clones watching them take off._

'_That only works if he's not awake.' A1 said quietly so the rest of the clones didn't hear them._

_Nobody had been told that the likelihood of him waking up four months after he was supposed to was slim to none and even if he did, that his mind would most likely be gone._

'_If he's awake you tell him I'll meet you guys in Arcadia. You don't tell him about Umbrella Prime. This is my score to settle not Carlos'. I won't risk him again."_

'_After I leave him in Arcadia, I will come for you at Prime. We take Umbrella down together, all of us or I tell him everything. That's the deal.' A1 muttered._

'_Loaded up and ready to go." A10 said from inside._

'_Okay but only after he is safe.' Alice agreed climbing into the helicopter._

'_If he doesn't wake?'A1 yelled._

_Several of the clones looked alarmed but A1 paid them no attention. Alice had to deal with this before she left. A1 knew that she wouldn't have the strength to make the decision to let him go on her own._

'_Leave him, I'll come back as soon as I can.' Alice shouted over the blades spinning._

'_I won't leave him alone. I'll send the others ahead.'_

'_No you won't. You need to lead the rest to Prime. I'll come and take care of him myself. I'm the one who has to do it. I have to do it…alone.' Alice said a note of finality in her voice._

_A1 moved back and the helicopter lifted off the ground whipping her hair all around her._

"You worried she won't make it back aren't you?"

"I'm glad you told him everything. I would have deceived him."

"Now you don't have to but you know that he won't let us go to Prime without him." A23 replied sincerely hoping that Alice got back soon otherwise they would have a problem on their hands.

Neither one of them could see him just sitting back awaiting the return of the woman he loved, he'd go looking for her, he was too stubborn for his own good just like Alice; it was probably why they made such a great team.

"We'll get to that soon enough, for now lets focus on making him better." A1 said and they snapped out of their morose thoughts as if he had reached out and comforted them. "It obvious why she loves him, isn't it?"

"Its why we all do. Come on. We have tests to prepare." A23 said and for once A1 followed.


End file.
